Inuvember 2019 - Day Two
by A Mad Youkai Tea Party
Summary: A month-long celebration of the Inuyasha series, hosted on Tumblr. I decided to post them up here as well. Day Two theme: Inuyasha & Co.


**Day 2: Inuyasha & Co.**

* * *

_Pain. He thought he had a decent understanding of the word, once upon a time. Like when he climbed a tree too high and a branch broke under his weight. He changed his mind when his mother passed, only a few months ago – he had been used to his feelings being hurt, but when he lost his mother, he felt like something inside of him broke. He had lost something, something he'd never expect to get back. He didn't think any physical pain could compare._

_Then he walked into that village._

_He was hungry and tired – he had never had a chance to rest ever since he'd been kicked out of his mother's home. So, when he came across a village, he finally thought caught a break. He'd be safe from the demons chasing him and he would get something to eat. If he was lucky, they might even let him stay. But he wasn't lucky._

_Things that once were only whispered were being screamed at him now. He hadn't done anything, but people armed themselves. It hurt. They grabbed him, and he struggled, trying to get away from the villagers without seriously hurting them. It hurt. He'd been tossed around in a crowd of men, tugged this way and that that. He was certain he had lost a few strands of his hair. It hurt. Someone said something, an insult he guessed, before lifting him by one of his ears. It hurt. He screamed. Something large and heavy hit his side, a tool of some kind. Another person kicked him. It hurt. **It hurt. It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! It hurt!**_

_There was blood. His claws where laced with his own blood. And as he felt another thing inside him break, something else clicked into place. He let it. The blood around his hands almost seemed to shift on his own, and his claws felt stronger. He gritted his teeth and flicked his wrist, almost gasping in relief when the weight on him disappeared and his breathing wasn't so restricted. There were more insults now, worse than the ones before, but he ignored it as he ran._

Something grabbed him.

Inuyasha's instincts kicked in, and he suddenly flipped himself, his hand at the throat of the person who touched him. Someone grabbed his raised hand and placed a hand on his chest. The grip wasn't tight, and the hand on his chest didn't have enough force to really push him back. But it didn't matter, because his eyes had already caught on to the person who had pinned beneath him. Kagome didn't seem to worried that he had her pinned her by her throat, with only Sango's loose grip stopping his other hand.

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha scrambled to get off of her. He was shaking, and he nearly fell onto her in awkward ways if it wasn't for Sango's assistance. Miroku and Shippou boh moved to assist Kagome, though she seemed to have much more ease than he did. He couldn't really remain standing, and ended up leaning back against Kirara. He was sweaty, he realized, when he pushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"Are you alright, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked.

"I'm sorry" he replied, "I... I'm sorry..."

Kagome sighed, "I'm fine Inuyasha. It won't bruise — it doesn't even really hurt. Now, are you alright?"

"You were tossing and groaning in your sleep" Shippou added as he came to Inuyasha's side, "Were you having a nightmare?"

Inuyasha ignored that question with one of his own, "When did I fall asleep?"

The hanyou didn't usually fall so deeply asleep. Someone needed to keep guard after all, and since he was the only reliable member who could function on so little sleep, so he rested lightly to keep awareness of his surroundings. It had taken a long time to really build up that particular skill. But as Inuyasha tried to recall when he fell asleep, he couldn't really member much of what happened after dinner was finished.

"We noticed that you had dozed off not to long after we had finished cleaning up after dinner" Miroku answered, "We were surprised — you hadn't even moved into the tree."

Sango offered a smile, "You had a rough day. We figured you could use the extra rest."

Inuyasha hoped his thoughts on that kindness were easily expressed through the glare he sent in their direction.

Kagome placed a hand over his, "Do you want to talk about—"

"I'm not having this conversation, Kagome" Inuyasha sighed, tossing an arm over his eyes.

He could hear Kagome sigh herself, obviously not amused at his reluctance but not willing to push him on this particular problem. He felt a sudden small weight on him, which moved up his chest until it got to his shoulder. Shippou curled right beside Inuyasha's head, making himself obviously comfortable between the _nekomata _and the inu-hanyou. Inuyasha moved his arm to look at the fox, and noticed that he had started to prepare to sleep. Which was weird, Shippou preferred sleeping with Kagome, didn't he?

"What are you up to runt?"

"Whenever I had nightmares, my father would comfort me by letting me sleep with him" Shippou responded, "Then I wouldn't have nightmares anymore."

He was about to counter with a creative insult, until a weight landed in his lap and rested against his chest, "Kagome?"

"It's a good idea. Besides, I might get lonely" Kagome smiled as she snuggled into his chest, "Sango-chan, would you mind getting the extra blanket from my bag?"

"Of course, Kagome-chan."

Sango reached over to Kagome's stuffed, yellow bag and dug through it with caution of Kagome's items. She finally managed to pull out a large fluffy blanket, one Kagome brought in case it got too cold during the night or they were staying in a colder region. Sango unfolded it and spread it over the group, before slipping beneath it herself, and resting against his side. That surprised Inuyasha, but not as much as when Miroku did the same on the opposite side. He was surrounded and pretty much trapped by the group.

"Seriously, you guys?"

"What?" Miroku stated, "If I tried Sango's side, she'd surely kick me out of the forest."

"Only if you get to handsy, Houshi-sama" Sango replied.

Inuyasha groaned, "Grope me in your sleep, and I'll kick your ass."

Kagome giggled, "I'm sure Miroku-sama will keep his hands to himself."

Inuyasha shifted so that Kagome could be closer to him, and leaned further back onto Kirara.

Looks like he was getting a decent night's worth of sleep.


End file.
